Rampart House has been in continuous use for thousands of years and is an important location within the Gwich’in cultural landscape. It is significant as one of the earliest places in the Yukon where the Gwich’in met and interacted with fur traders, missionaries, police and government officials within their traditional territory. The site is important to the development of the region, demonstrating ongoing Gwich’in presence and influence in the north, 19th century expansion of the fur trade, development of the Anglican Church in Yukon, the establishment of the US-Canada border, and the ongoing relationships between newcomer communities and Indigenous peoples within the territory.

Rampart House is the best-preserved example of a peripheral fur trading post from the early 20th century in the Yukon and the most complete record of a town establishing itself around such a post. Both associated with the Hudson Bay Company (HBC) (1889-1893), and independent trader Dan Cadzow (1904-1928), many Gwich’in families built cabins at Rampart House, occupying the site seasonally. The collection of Gwich’in homes in Rampart House are representative of a common vernacular construction found throughout the Yukon with many of them employing horizontal log construction with saddle notched corners. Many of these cabins are associated with specific families who still live in the area including the Moses, Linklater, Kassi and Njootli families, among many others.

Cadzow reused the HBC buildings and later built his own. The Cadzow buildings and the church are significant in their technology due to their modified Hudson’s Bay Frame (piece sur piece) construction. While Hudson’s Bay Frames are common in western Canada the modification to the examples at Rampart House makes them rare in the broader Canadian context, and unique in the Traditional Territory of the Van Tat Gwich’in- the only other example being that of St. Luke’s church in Old Crow. The ruined police post, the last of the original 19th Century HBC buildings, demonstrates the evolution of the Hudson Bay Frame at the site, showing the older design found throughout the West, in contrast to the modified design of the newer buildings.

The Anglican Church (1918) and Rectory (1919) at Rampart House are among the oldest extant Christian buildings within the northern Yukon, and an important illustration of the development of the Anglican Church in Northern Yukon, particularly the amalgamation of Anglican religion and Gwich’in spirituality.

Rampart House is associated with the Turner expedition (1888), the international border survey (1911-12) and the international politics which determined the western boundary of Canada and the Yukon Territory. Following the purchase of Alaska by the United States, the HBC moved up the Porcupine River to be within Canadian territory and founded Rampart House at its present location after J Henry Turner surveyed 141st parallel in 1888. Continued boundary disputes resulted in joint US-Canadian teams surveying the entire border north to the Arctic Ocean by 1913. In 1911 the survey crew was based at Rampart House and led to increased contact between Gwich’in and government officials. Tensions arose with Gwich’in when their belongings and homes were destroyed, and a quarantine enforced over a mis-diagnosis of smallpox. The arrival of RNWMP in 1914 hardened the border through the enforcement of tariffs and regulations, effectively separating Gwich’in from family and lands west of the 141st parallel. These actions contributed to the slow decline of Rampart House as Gwich’in relocated to other communities such as Old Crow.

Through the establishment and decline of the trading post and associated Gwich’in village, Rampart House illustrates the unique development patterns in northern Yukon, influenced by the evolution of the fur trade, merging of spiritual beliefs, enforcement of Canadian sovereignty and especially the adaptation and resilience of the Gwich’in people to social and cultural change seen in the Van Tat Gwich’in’s continued use of Rampart House and the surrounding land.

Character Defining Elements

• The large collection of extant buildings and structures in their original locations including the Cadzow house, warehouse, and store; the Anglican church and rectory; the RNWMP barracks; several small log Gwitchin cabins; and accessory structures including a fox farm, outhouses, and caches.

• The spatial organization of the buildings, their orientation and location on level, elevated ground providing prominence and visibility of each structure, as well as their relationship to each other, the river and creek.

• The visual composition of built features, their landscape setting and the natural environment that surrounds them, including views up and down the Porcupine River, the view to Willow Island, and unobstructed open views of the buildings and building remnants within the site.

• The construction methods and materials evident in the buildings and structures, particularly the modified pièce sur pièce details, the use of both locally sourced and introduced materials, and the common vernacular construction of the collection of Gwich’in residences employing horizontal log construction with saddle notched corners.

• Varied constructions techniques of some Gwich’in buildings, such as the Old Archie Linklater House, which incorporates modified Piece sur Piece with traditional log construction.

• The original boundary marker on the International Boundary, and other survey-related features including the astronomical triangulation station.

• The archaeological record including former building locations, and the collection of moveable artefacts located around the site.

• The cultural landscape setting of the built heritage including the paths between buildings, the general clearing around the buildings defined by the edge of the forest, the topography of the site, the combination of the river and the high rock “ramparts” that define its edge, the access route from the river’s edge, and the creek that descends through the site.

• Evidence of traditional use found in the archaeological record and confirmed in the archival records, oral histories and stories of the Gwich’in living and working on the site.

• Continued use and access by Gwich’in hunting and fishing along the Porcupine River, and the use as a place for gathering, cultural knowledge transmission, and as a place for education and enjoyment.

Cultural Period

The Heritage Management Plan identifies seven periods of occupation at the site: Turner Survey (1889), Hudson's Bay Company Buildings (1890-93), International Boundary Survey (1910-12), Anglican Church (1890-1921), Cadzow Buildings (1904-29), NWMP Barracks (1914-29), and Gwich'in Homes (18-- -1940).

Description of Boundaries

The property includes the lands and resources contained within surveyed land parcels Lot 1 & 2, Group 1301, YT, LTO Plan 98-38, and includes a 100 foot crown land reserve adjacent to the Porcupine River.

Historical Sources Location

Gindèhchik / Rampart House Historic Site- Zheh Gwatsàl / LaPierre House Historic Site Management Plan Update (2023)

Rampart House LaPierre House Management Plan, March 1999. Prepared for the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation and Government of Yukon by Ecogistics Consulting.

Sherry, Erin &VGFN. The Land Still Speaks: Gwitchin WordsAbout Life in Dempster Country. 1999.

Beairsto, Colin. Making Camp: Rampart House on the Porcupine River, 1997.

Yukon Archives:

91/36 #66 Canadian Museum of Civilization collection

77/19 #7592 Claude & Mary Tidd Fonds

National Archives of Canada:

PA 37730 Canada Dept. of Mines and Resources 1969-095

PA 196933 Keefer 1972-116

Report on 1911 season operations on the 141st meridian. International Boundary Commission.

Cultural History

Rampart House was established in 1890 as the fourth outpost of the Hudson's Bay Company on the Porcupine River. The HBC spent 1847-1869 at Fort Yukon before being told to leave because it was on American territory. In the fall of 1869 the post was moved to Old Rampart House at Howling Dog but floods forced them to relocate once again to a second Old Rampart House in the spring of 1871. With news that the post was still within Alaskan territory, the post was once again moved to the current site. The site had previously been used during the US Boundary Party in 1889 and was known as Camp Colonna. During their stay they constructed what was known as the Turner Building. The HBC remained at Rampart House until 1893 before withdrawing to Ft. McPherson due to increasing competition for trade with the local First Nations from both the American's in Alaska and the Whaler's stationed at Herschel Island. The Church Missionary Society purchased the HBC buildings at Rampart House for the Anglican Church, where they remained for three more years. The community experienced a renewal when in 1904-05 Dan Cadzow started trading at Rampart House. Cadzow initially occupied existing buildings but eventually built his own house, store and warehouse. The Anglican Church returned circa 1909. The population at the time is unknown but a number of First Nations cabins are known to have existed east of the creek. The peak of the community is said to have taken place during the US-Canada Survey of the 141st meridian from 1907-1914. The survey team spent 1910 to 1912 in the Rampart House area bringing with them 105 people and horses in 1911. 1911 was also the year of a smallpox epidemic which caused many First Nation families to be quarantined on the island opposite Rampart House. A large number of buildings at Rampart House were destroyed to fight against the smallpox.

250 people were reportedly at Rampart House for Christmas 1914 and 4 new cabins were built in 1915 by First Nations. Cadzow lobbied for a RNWMP detachment to collect customs and inhibit Alaskan Traders. As a response Sergeant W.J.C Dempster arrived in 1914 and established the detachment in quarters rented from Cadzow. A new church and school were constructed in 1918 but the Mission headquarters was moved to Old Crow in 1921, with occasional services at Rampart House. The Mounties also moved to Old Crow in 1929, the same year that Cadzow passed away. Cadzow's wife, Rachel, and a few other families continued to live at Rampart House until the1940s when they too relocated to Old Crow. Rampart House continues to be a stopping point for Gwitchin hunters and other travelers on the Porcupine River.